SI DIGEST 3-13-98
SkeptInq (SkeptInq@aol.com)
Fri, 13 Mar 1998 16:43:10 EST
SKEPTICAL INQUIRER ELECTRONIC DIGEST
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March 13, 1998
SI Electronic Digest is the weekly e-mail news update of the Committee for
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In this week's SI DIGEST:
--Skeptics Join CSICOP in Nationwide Superstition Bash.
--OPINION: Nothing to Fear from Friday the 13th or Moon Madness.
--Ken Frazier Comments on UFO INVASION.
--Shroud of Turin Exhibited for First Time in Twenty-Years.
SKEPTIC'S JOIN CSICOP IN NATIONWIDE SUPERSTITION BASH
AMHERST, N.Y.-- Skeptics on both coasts will take the opportunity on March 13
to laugh in the face of superstition and tempt a lifetime of bad luck as the
forever feared Friday the Thirteenth collides with the occurence of a full
moon and lunar eclipse!
At the Center for Inquiry-International in Amherst, New York, CSICOP will
continue its tradition of frolic and fun on the year's "darkest" day by
hosting a pot"bad"luck supper for skeptics and members of the public from
across Western New York and Southern Ontario. Those arriving will walk under
ladders, pass-by black cats, step-on cracks, throw away chain letters, and
smash mirrors. Musical entertainment will be provided by the band
Curmudgeons, and author Joe Nickell will give a presentation on the folklore
surrounding the date and alleged effects of the Full Moon.
"Our message is: you have nothing to fear from Friday the Thirteenth or the
Full Moon" says Paul Kurtz, founding chair of CSICOP.
On the other side of the state, just outside of Albany, the Inquiring
Skeptics of Upper New York (ISUNY) will be partaking in similar mischief and
fun as they throw their own Superstition Bash at the Guilderland Public
Library. Check out their website at:
http//www.rpi.edu/~sofkam/isuny/
And not to leave the west coast out of the merriment, Oregonians for
Rationality will also be hosting a Superstition Bash in Salem. E-mail:
joshr@ncn.com
OPINION: NOTHING TO FEAR FROM FRIDAY THE 13TH OR THE FULL MOON
Joe Nickell
Only one thing can be predicted for March 12 and 13: it will be an anxiety-
filled two days for the superstitious and the credulous. A full moon will
appear in the sky Thursday, March 12, calling to mind tales of "moon madness".
And on Friday, friggatriskaidekaphobes, those afflicted souls who possess an
overwhelming fear of Friday the thirteenth, will surely step out the door in
trepidation, looking for cracks in the sidewalk, avoiding ladders and black
cats, and being careful not to break any mirrors.
Separate polls taken of students at major universities and of health
professionals nationwide reveal that approximately half of those surveyed
believe some people behave strangely when the moon is full. Fear of the full
moon traces back centuries to tales of werewolves, witches, supernatural
happenings, and maritime misfortune. Indeed, the word "lunatic" derives from
the supposed lunar influence.
As has been the case with many paranormal phenomena, pseudoscience has
attempted to verify the existence of moon madness. In 1978, psychiatrist
Arnold Lieber published the best-selling book The Lunar Effect which claimed
that the moon has the power to influence human "biological tides" causing
emotional, physical and mental disruption. Lieber used his theory to explain
findings that purportedly showed that the incidence of homicides in Miami and
Cleveland were higher near the times of both the new and full moon.
Yet follow-up studies, several published in SKEPTICAL INQUIRER magazine, have
failed to support a correlation between moon phases and homicides. Studies
also counter the existence of a correlation between stages of the moon and the
number of such commonly cited other disturbances as suicides, births, crisis
calls to police stations, disasters, hockey fights, or psychiatric admissions.
With statistical evidence acquitting the moon of murder and mayhem, this week
the
superstitious are still left to contend with the "dark" history surrounding
Friday the Thirteenth. As any reputable scientist or mathematician will tell
you, "luck" does not exist. Good fortune is randomly distributed and not
dependent on the day. The superstitious, however, will cite a long history of
misfortune associated with the number thirteen.
Judas Iscariot was the "thirteenth" apostle, the thirteenth tribe of Israel
was the only tribe left without land, and the ill-fated Apollo 13 space
mission was launched at 1313 hours (central time), from pad 39 ( the 3rd
multiple of 13) and had to be aborted on April 13, 1970. Practitioners of
witchcraft will point out that the number thirteen equals the number of days
in the year divided by twenty-eight, the number of days in a woman's menstrual
cycle.
Friday has an equally colorful past. According to Biblical lore, Eve gave
the apple to Adam on Friday, the great flood began on a Friday, the Temple of
Solomon was destroyed on a Friday, execution day was Friday in Rome, and Good
Friday exists because it is the reported day of Jesus' crucifixion.
But for all the infamy and credence given to bad luck on Friday the
Thirteenth, there are many less-publicized examples of good fortune. In pagan
times, Friday was the day of the love goddess, and today, fittingly enough,
Friday is the end of the work week. Many actors insist on signing contracts
only on Friday because it brings good luck. Novelist Charles Dickens
reportedly began the writing of all his books on a Friday, the day of his
birth.
At the birth of our nation, thirteen colonies formed the Union, a baker's
dozen is considered a fortunate bargain, and, if you are Jewish, age thirteen
is the time for a bar or bat mitzvah. For some Christians, thirteen could be
considered sacred, since it equals the Ten Commandments plus the Trinity.
And, as most sports fans know, Dan Marino, perhaps the greatest of NFL
quarterbacks, wears the number thirteen.
It might be easy to laugh at such superstitious foolishness, but this same
kind of magical thinking operates to support beliefs that can be harmful. It
is estimated that the thirteenth of the month costs America a billion dollars
a year through train and plane reservation cancellation, absenteeism, and
reduced commerce. One can see why philosopher Edmund Burke proclaimed
superstition the "religion of feeble minds."
—30—
KEN FRAZIER COMMENTS ON UFO INVASION
SKEPTICAL INQUIRER editor Ken Frazier invites skeptics to visit
www.amazon.com and post comments on the recent anthology, UFO INVASION.
The collection offers SKEPTICAL INQUIRER's best articles on such UFO-related
lore as the Roswell Incident, the alien autopsy, crop circles, and the MJ-12
document. To order, call Prometheus Books at 1-800-634-1610.
You can find the UFO INVASION page once you are logged onto
www.amazon.com by typing in either the book's title or an editor's name
(Frazier, Nickell, Karr) at the Search function.
__________________________________________________________________
Ken Frazier's comments on UFO INVASION:
A true believer in UFOs as alien spaceships may not like THE UFO INVASION,
but the book aims at a higher level. If you are an open-minded member of the
general public honestly curious about the degree to which the stories you
read and
hear about UFOs have (or don't have) some basis in fact; or if you are a
scientifically oriented person who wants to know what scientific
examinations of UFO claims have found, I think you will like and respect The
UFO Invasion.
It is one of the few books on the market (for others see Klass; Korff;
Peebles; and Saler, Ziegler, and Moore) that give a reasoned, fair-minded,
scientific
perspective on claims of a crashed-flying saucer at Roswell, alien
abductions, government cover-ups, and other famed reports of sightings.
Most of the authors are scientists, scholars, and science journalists. The
UFO Invasion includes the full three-article investigation by veteran
aerospace journalist Philip J. Klass documenting that the notorious MJ-12
"crashed saucer" papers are a hoax. It includes persuasive first-person
testimony and documentation by
respected atmospheric physicist Charles B. Moore that his New York University
/
Project Mogul balloon experiments launched from Alamogordo, N.M., in June
1947 were the stimulus for the Roswell crashed saucer report and the source of
the
debris recovered at that time. It includes main text of the 1995 US Air Force
report on the Roswell incident, providing additional support and
documentation for
that explanation. It decisively debunks the notorious "alien autopsy" movie
shown on TV. And it provides a never-before-published full psychological
explanation for "alien-abduction" claims.
If you want a reasoned perspective and a mature scientific viewpoint on a
subject that has been too often left in the hands of tabloid writers and UFO
promoters, this book is for you.
SHROUD OF TURIN EXHIBITED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWENTY-YEARS
Joe Nickell
This spring, for the first time in twenty-years, the Shroud of Turin will be
on display to the public in the Turin Cathedral. Perhaps the world's most
notorious religious hoax, the shroud bears the imprints of an apparently
crucified man, but modern forensic tests show the image was done in tempera
paint, and radio carbon
testing yielded a date between 1260 and 1390. This is consistent with the
earliest written record of the cloth, a bishop's report to Pope Clement that
an artist confessed he had "cunningly painted" the image. The "shroud" had
been part of a phoney faith-healing scheme to bilk credulous pilgrims.
The shroud's public display is part of the 1998 Shroud Exposition in Turin.
The occasion is sure to prompt renewed claims from the "shroud crowd"-- people
who vociferously promote the shroud's authenticity. Be on the lookout for
credulous stories in the media.
--30--